My copy of Randy Olson's new book, Don't be Such a Scientist, arrived earlier this week. I'll be posting more comments about it later. For now, I want to use the photograph to the left -- of a jack-in-the-pulpit urinal by Clark Sorenson, available for a mere $7900 -- to mention one lesson I've learned so far.
In chapter 1, Randy advises us,1 "Don't be so cerebral." In chapter 2, he advises us, "Don't be so literal minded." Chapter 1 introduces his "Four organs theory" of connecting with a mass audience, and chapter 2 admonishes us to "arouse your audience and fulfill their expectations." You'll have to buy (or borrow) the book if you want to know more,2 but when I saw this sculpture, I realized that it unifies these two chapters (or at least chapter 1 and the "arouse their interest" part of chapter 2).
Whether or not Sorenson consciously thought about it, his sculpture is obviously talking to our gut (or maybe our sex organs), not to our heart. That's almost guaranteed to get Sorenson a larger audience than if he were talking to our head (Marcel Duchamp notwithstanding). He's used an appeal to the gut (or somewhere lower in our anatomy) to capture our attention, and once he's got it, you start wondering about the structure he illustrates. In this case and in the other sculptures displayed on his urinal page, Sorenson does a pretty good job of making accurate 3-dimensional models various flowers and snail shells. Most guys will probably go no further than to snicker at the flower while they're using it, but no one who uses it is likely to forget it, and that alone makes botany seem a little more interesting than it would have otherwise.
In chapter 1, Randy advises us,1 "Don't be so cerebral." In chapter 2, he advises us, "Don't be so literal minded." Chapter 1 introduces his "Four organs theory" of connecting with a mass audience, and chapter 2 admonishes us to "arouse your audience and fulfill their expectations." You'll have to buy (or borrow) the book if you want to know more,2 but when I saw this sculpture, I realized that it unifies these two chapters (or at least chapter 1 and the "arouse their interest" part of chapter 2).
Whether or not Sorenson consciously thought about it, his sculpture is obviously talking to our gut (or maybe our sex organs), not to our heart. That's almost guaranteed to get Sorenson a larger audience than if he were talking to our head (Marcel Duchamp notwithstanding). He's used an appeal to the gut (or somewhere lower in our anatomy) to capture our attention, and once he's got it, you start wondering about the structure he illustrates. In this case and in the other sculptures displayed on his urinal page, Sorenson does a pretty good job of making accurate 3-dimensional models various flowers and snail shells. Most guys will probably go no further than to snicker at the flower while they're using it, but no one who uses it is likely to forget it, and that alone makes botany seem a little more interesting than it would have otherwise.
Hat tip: Phytophactor
1By "us" I mean "scientists" of course.
2I want Randy's book to do well, so I'm going to try to whet your appetite for the book, rather than tell you what's in it.
1By "us" I mean "scientists" of course.
2I want Randy's book to do well, so I'm going to try to whet your appetite for the book, rather than tell you what's in it.
Leave a comment